And one more.  I have one more of this style of block to make and then I am done with the July blocks that I brought with me to make. 

Here at May Creek Campground there is a trail head that goes to an old cabin.  The sign said 2 miles so we started off at about 10 this morning to see it.  It starts at May Creek of course:

The hiking trail goes along side the creek the whole way:

What a beautiful blue sky!

A beautiful plant along the way – haven’t a clue what it is: anyone know?

The cabin! wow I was expecting a little bit more

How quickly a blue sky can change – we left around 10 and the sky was bright blue – we reached the cabin around 11:30 and ate some lunch that we had brought with us.  We had heard it might rain today so we decided to start back and good thing we did – by noon it was cloudy up quickly.

By the end of the trail it looked like this and was beginning to thunder.  We got back to the motor home at 12:45 and beat the rain by about 5 minutes!  Good timing.

The sign to the trail:

I am going to be scheduling all of these post from Bannack, Lemhi and May Creek when we get to Livingston MT where we will have electricity and internet.  Some of them might be out of order by date – but this one was written on July 31 and that is when we took this hike also.

The guiding force behind the memorial:

another sign:

This is what Lewis and Clark called the “head of the Missouri River” they followed streams and I think this was the one they followed, it was later believed though that it is not the head of the river.  When we visited the area in the late 1970’s we have a photo of the girls straddling the stream to say they were at the head of the river.  We were looking for this spot and surprised that we found it this trip:

The first paragraph on this sign is from the journal of Lewis indicating they thought this was the beginning of the Missouri River.

Heading down out of the mountain – this is the road we followed:

More big horn sheep – we saw 9 of them this time.  This is almost back to the campground – just before we get to the mountains with the forests.

That is it for the mountain pass – hope you enjoyed it!

Here is the sign we saw as we were ending our drive over the pass – this was if you came in the opposite direction from near Salmon Idaho.  We started on the Montana side as that is were we were.

As we started our drive we came across this rest stop – Clark Canyon Reservoir.  I wouldn’t have thought to see an island in this area:

A sign at the reservoir:

A map of the Lewis and Clark Expedition:

Pelican at the lake:

A sign of some flowers in the area – we didn’t see any bitterrott but we sure saw a lot of other flowers!

The top of the pass:

The rock with information:

At the top of the pass you are also at the Continental Divide:

At the top – what you see:

Flowers:

Sego Lilies:

The intersection – first we turn left for a 1/4 mile drive to the Sacajawea memorial park then back track and start down the pass taking the road to the right for about 20 miles ending up in Idaho and the drive back through Salmon and then into Montana to the park we are currently camped at.

This post on the Lemhi Pass will be in two or three parts as well. I didn’t realize I had so many photos Until I start to go through them!!

Going through some mountains on our way to Idaho.

Idaho Falls is that a way:

It stopped raining by about noon which is when we got to the campground that we are staying at in town – this is a “town” campground which means it is crowded, but we are only here for two nights so it is ok.  The laundry is right next door – only one camp site between us and the laundry – convenient – and is going while I type this.

We drove around after setting up camp and found the old house we lived in for six months back in 1973, new roof and different color (use to be light green) but it is still there:

And here is the apartment we lived in for about six months in 1977, we actually tried to get the same house as we did in 73 but it was not available, we had liked the landlord and the neighborhood was kid friendly and a fenced back yard, too bad someone else was renting it.

Weird how we did not remember the addresses but by driving around and making this turn and that we found both of them.   We will drive past the house in Arco and take a photo of that one too in couple days.  It is amazing how much this town has grown in the amount of stores and shops!!  Whole new areas have been built just like everywhere else I guess.  All the chain stores and restaurants.  Whole new neighborhoods and shopping centers, including a large mall.  When we were here it was still a small town of about 39,000.  Now it is a little over 50,000.

I forgot to bring a sewing lamp with me and the lightening for sewing is much to be desired.  We went to Michael’s and I found this magnifier/light.  It works on electricity or batteries.  It clamps to the table and can also turn this way and that.

Clamps to the table:

Loosen the metal piece and turn it the way you want and then tightened it down.  I normally do not use a magnifier – but I must admit even with my new glasses close up work is putting a little strain on my eyes.  I will need to train myself to use it.  The light shines down from 3 LED lights under the magnifier.

We will be out taking photos of the falls that give this town its name and other things tomorrow.

(written in actually time for a change, not scheduled)

The building that you start at and get on the tram – it goes up to the mountain in the distance that you see in this photo:

Some of the view at the top:

We were about half way up the mountain when another tram is coming down – this is the top of that tram:

More of the mountain at the top:

This sign gives you the information – I don’t think they it is normal to have up to 100 people on these – maybe in an emergency?  There were barely 25-30 on the ones we were on and saw others arrive and depart with the same.  We knew it would be cold and windy at the top and we had jackets with us.  It was 56 degrees but the wind made it feel like 30 or so.  Some people came up with tank tops – shivering here thinking of what they must have felt like – ice cubes perhaps!

To the very top:

Today we saw 4 more moose and got photos of two of them.  Will post those later, I need to get the photos from Mike.  I took some too – but well you see there is a difference between a telephoto lens and a Nikon Cool Pix a big difference!  I will show it to you later.

(this written on evening of 19th)

This is one of the boats that ferries people across (for a fee) Jenny lake cutting 2 miles off of your hike.  What a beautiful setting this is:

Part of the beginning of the trail close to the boat dock:

Looking at the water rushing down from Hidden Falls through the trees:

Many years ago when the kids were young we were able to get close to the water in many places to set and rest, have a picnic or whatever but now parts of the trails are fenced off and this is why:

Another view of the roaring river:

All for now, will post more later.  We are taking a picnic lunch with us and will be out for a good part of the day.

our first part of our journey west

the second days drive

across Nebraska

The last place we stopped yesterday was Fort Laramie Wyoming.  The fort was used for about 50 years in the mid to late 1800’s protecting the travelers and the telegraph lines going through this part of the country before treaties were signed and kept with the Indians.  I must say that I do not think the Indians were treated right but that is something that took place before our time and I had no say in the matter.  If the pioneers had not continued to forge to the west we do not even know what would have taken place in the history of this part of the country.

The fort was crumbling from disuse when the park service took it over in the 1930’s and renovated the buildings. Some of the photos might not look clear this is because they have glass over all entrances to the rooms so that you can see in the rooms but cannot go into to them.  It really ruined taking photos for me, but I can understand why they can’t have the rooms open to the public.

an 1800's style barracks

I loved this tree - it was not tall but very wide, I have no idea how old it is - there are not a lot of trees in this area, one of the branches is so low but so long that they have it supported on one end so it won't break off.

a quilt on a bed in one of the officiers house. I do not think this was an actual antique quilt - I couldn't get real close to it but it just didn't look really old - maybe it was but very well taken care of? The fabric showed no signs of age to me other than being a little faded.

I took more photos of the quilts on the beds but because of the glass between me and the quilts they didn’t turn out well.  Mike took photo’s with his camera too and his camera is better.  When he goes through his I will see which ones to take and past here.

a snake we saw at Scottsbluff - it is up against the wall - not a rattlesnake but do not know what kind it is

a woven coverlet - brought from Ohio by family on their way west

a shiney new doctor kit - wouldn't you love being treated with this equipment!

the flooded North Platte River in this area of eastern Wyoming. We had intended to camp in the parks in this area and found out a couple days ago that the area was still flooded and has been for over a month I think. Instead we are at a KOA for two nights as there are many things in this area we wanted to see but did not want to have to search for a campground in the area that was not flooded. All of those trees in the distance are standing in water.

We traveled a good long way on Highway 26 in Western Nebraska.  This follows the Oregon/California/Mormon Trails.  If you do not know these 3 trails pretty much followed the same path for a good distance before they break off from each other.  One of course heading to Oregon, one to California and one to Salt Lake City area of Utah.

We stopped to read plenty of the road side historic signs along the way today.  Here is a photo of one sign we saw today which explains itself:

one of the first of two women to travel by wagon train to Oregon

Chimney Rock - a marker that people were told to look for on the trail to go the right direction

Chimney Rock is a really famous marker out west – it used to be larger – due to erosion it has gotten smaller in the last 150 years since people used it as a marker for the trail.  They have a nice visitor center/museum here and we spent about an hour here and had lunch too.

Our next stop was Scottsbluff another place in history where there are still deep impressions in the earth from the thousands of wagons that came through this area.  We were here for close to two hours.   In most places contrary to what is shown in the old west movies and tv shows the wagon trail was not always one long line of wagons but spread out all over the place so people were not constantly eating the dust of all the wagons in front of them.  In Scottsbluff the trail narrows and it was more of traveling in a line. Because of that the wagon ruts were deep in this sandy soil and although due again to erosion you can’t see the actual ruts you can see where the soil is cut deep into almost ravine type of areas now.

this is one of those deep cuts into the soil.

Scottsbluff with a recreation covered wagon - one of three set up here.

one of the replica wagons not packed as full as I am sure they were. The child here is playing the part of the child going west - she didn't appear to be too happy about doing this it was hot out.

from on the top of Scottsbluff you could see this hiking trail from up high. This trail goes to the visitors center. You can ride a shuttle bus to the top and ride back if you want. If walking if you look at the end of the trail you will see a tunnel - that is for foot traffic - I have no idea how long it is - maybe one day we will walk it but not today - we were already realizing we would get to camp late.

I will give more photos tomorrow of the last stop we made today which was the old Fort Laramie in Wyoming.  I almost lost my camera today!  We took the shuttle bus to the top of the bluff and walked on a few of the short trails to see the overlooks and then took the shuttle bus back to the museum/visitors center.  When I got in to the museum I realized I did not have the camera.  I had left it on the seat.  The driver had mentioned to us that after he dropped us off he had to drive to town to get gas!  We had to wait an extra half an hour before he got back so I could retrieve my camera.  One of the rangers called the driver on his cell phone to check and see if I had left it there and sure enough he said yes.

Back in 1991 was the last time we had been to Scottsbluff and we being the only passengers on the shuttle had gotten to talking to him and told him of our trip back then — the kids to this day still refer to the trip as the “trip from hell” – need I say more.  Picture Chevy Chases “Vacation” movie   LOL anything that could happen did happen. The part that had to do with Scottsbluff was that we locked the keys in the minivan with the engine running!!  We had left home pulling a 13 foot trailer with the pickup truck and got 20 miles from home and the engine blew – took the mini van instead, had to replace the radiator on the trip – had two cracks in the windshield from flying rock, flat tires,  and then on the way back home about 100 miles from home someone ran into the back of our camper and pushed in the back about 2 feet – then claimed bankruptcy and had no insurance after they told us they did!!  We saw 13 states and 2 Canadian Provenience’s that trip. No wonder the kids call that 3 week vacation the vacation from hell! LOL

When I got my camera back from the driver of the shuttle he was laughing and said “I hope this is the worse thing that happens this trip” I do too!!

The little sod house - so nice and cozy I'm sure. Made from cutting the ground up into squares or oblong pieces and stacking. Inside is muddy and damp, dirt dropping I imagine and bugs crawling.

the inside of the "house"

I looked up at the roof and saw these cactus - I thought it was really weird to have cactus growing on the roof.

then I walked around to the back of the house and looked up and saw the roof was covered in prickly pear cactus!

While we were looking and taking photos another tourist came by so I had him take a photo of Mike and I in front of this house

for some unknown reason (to me that is) in this part of the country it is not uncommon to see boots placed on fence posts. The property by the sod house had a whole string of boots on the fence post. Anyone know the reason for this tradition?

I will do one or two more post on Ash Hollow – like I say I have a lot of photos.  I will get behind on posts at some point I am sure.  So far we have had a cell signal strong enough for internet at all places we have been – I’m sure sooner or later there will be several days in a row without it.

Tomorrow we move on and will be at the end of Western Nebraska.  We will see Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff National Momument. Depending on where we find a campsite we might also be seeing historic Fort Laramie in Wyoming.

An update on the quilting front I am about 2/3′rds done with one applique block – wonder if I will get done with it by the weekend.  I have not spent much time at it.  We have been taking walks as often as we can, we are trying to get in shape for hikes in the mountains later this month.  I think we did 2 miles yesterday (one walk) and 3 walks today for a total of about 4 miles.

What a neat park this is.  We camped at this park 32 years ago.  We were living in Idaho at the time and my youngest brother and sister ages 12 & 14 stayed with us for 2 months visiting.  When it was time for them to go back to Arkansas my parents met us at this park to pick them up – it was about half way and neither of us had time to go all the way to either pick them up or bring them home   We spent a day or two camping here if I remember right.  Our two girls were about 5 & 2 1/2.  I wonder if they remember it – we never camped here after that – plans just never worked out for it.  The park is exactly as I remember it from back then.

Very tall cotton woods are throughout the park, it is also on a lake which is much higher than normal this year – but luckily no flooding right here.

our campsite among the trees

another view of the park.

another view of our site - love that curved tree.

The day started very cloudy and dark once again, it rained heavily for a time last night.  Thought it might rain again today during the day but it didn’t.  Might rain this evening but it almost looks like it is clearing up finally.  I had a sweat shirt jacket on almost all day – only got up to 68!!  Tonight to dip to 54 wow – what a relief from the heat earlier in the week.

Here is a photo of Mike and his dad.  The next time we visit him they will be in Oregon, they had their house up for sale for sometime and it sold the morning of the day we got there.  They will be moving in a month to Oregon where 3 of their children live and the youngest daughter and her family will be moving back there as well at the same time.  (they being Mike’s dad, his step-mom, youngest sister and her family).

Mike is the tall one (younger too LOL) he sure is a lot taller than his dad - his mom too. Supposed to be some tall ones on his mothers side of the family somewhere - all I have met on dad's side are short! Mike and his dad both have the same nose though and I guess the same hair too!

We will be at this campground tomorrow too and will drive around and see some sites.  Mike spent a bit of time in his childhood in and out of this area and wants to look at some places he remembers.  Also we are close to Ash Hollow and will check it out – it has been years since we had been there.  We are going to be visiting all kinds of historical places this trip that have to do with the Oregon Trail and this is one of them – photo’s tomorrow   I guess next visit to his dad will cover more Oregon Trail territory – we have been over part of it but not for a long time.